


Hell to Pay

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [30]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Demon!Caroline, F/M, hybrid!Klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 01:43:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14345337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: Mystic Falls is her territory, and she won't easily give it up.





	Hell to Pay

Caroline's fingers tug into the sun warmed earth, head dipping low as she shuddered through the agony of her change. The sun was slowly setting, the not quite dusk sky still warm and vibrant. All around her, the leaves were changing from green to red and gold, the first fingers of autumn a wild canopy of color brilliant against the deepening sky.

Head dropping low, a pained whine escaped her as her spine violently spasmed against her will. She'd put off changing too long and now her body was punishing her, but the move back to her mom's hometown had left her uneasy. Mystic Falls was lovely enough for small town USA, and was supposed to be a fresh start for them after the horrors of the past few years. Now that Bill was dead, and this time Caroline made certain he'd stay that way, a chance to blend in and be normal.

But the pretty town had an undercurrent that bothered her. There hadn't been a new missing person's case since her mom had started her new job as a deputy, but Caroline had seen the stack on Liz's desk. It was an unusual number of files for such a small town, and there hadn't been a shred of new evidence in months. Cold cases weren't her mom's specialty but the Sheriff hadn't cared. Caroline wasn't certain who Alaric Saltzman was but anyone who brushed off missing kids either had something to hide or was incompetent.

Caroline was pretty sure she knew which she was betting on. Particularly since she'd finally figured out the occasional scent of old blood and the sweetness of magic in his office meant. Sheriff Saltzman was involved with a vampire.

Spine arching in a violent pulse, she bit through her bottom lip to muffle her scream as her wings finally burst through her back in an explosion of bone and muscle. She panted heavily, arms trembling as she struggled to keep from collapsing onto the ground. For a moment she ignored the blood sliding down her chin, the aftershocks of hurt that still left her joints stinging, and just absorbed the absorbed the feeling of being whole.

It was impossible to describe those first few moments of pleasure and pain, the feeling of being free. Even before she rolled to her feet, before she spread her feather wings and took to the skies, that first brush of feathers against her aching skin meant she was no longer trapped. It was the first moment of the too few hours she'd allow herself to shed her human expectations and just be.

Taking a slow lungful of air, Caroline frowned. She lifted her head and she swiped at her mouth, shifting her weight to her knees. She wasn't alone. "What do you want?"

There was a moment of silence and then a soft laugh as a man stepped out of the woods. He had a tumble of dark blonde curls and a face that would make most women pause for a second or third look. But it was his scent that both intrigued and alarmed her. A whisper of wolf mingled with the sweetness of magic and just a touch of blood.

This was no human. She was both relieved and uneasy. A human would mean a shallow grave to hide her secrets. A witch or werewolf was a bit more complicated. Particularly when she wasn't certain that killing him would be simple.

"Aren't you a lovely little surprise," he murmured, gaze dragging blatantly across her tangled hair and bare breasts, lingering at the smeared blood across her chin and lips. Her half nakedness didn't bother her, but there was something dangerous about this unknown that prickled at her instincts and she narrowed her eyes. "That looked like it hurt, love."

"You're trespassing on private property," Caroline said tartly as she stood, wings shaking out automatically. She let them extend to catch the breeze, the last of the gore drying in the late summer heat. "And I'm not your business."

"Am I?" He murmured, lips curving to show the barest hint of dimple. "It appears I wandered a bit further than intended."

Caroline snorted. "A rare occurrence, for a wolf to lose its way."

The quickness of his smile was disarming, the sudden spark of boyish delight. "My wolf is still acquainting itself with my territory. But I believe you have me at a small disadvantage, sweetheart. My knowledge of mythological creatures is quite extensive, but I'm uncertain what to call you."

Wings stretching to their full length for a heartbeat, she settled them against her back and ignored the faint glow to his eyes as he watched her. Caroline wasn't going to admit to this creature who watched her with such fascination that she hardly knew what to call herself. That her father was an unknown creature who'd worn Bill Forbes face the night her mother had conceived, that he'd given her wings and that she was perhaps truly immortal.

Bill Forbes had tried for sixteen years to kill her, after all. When she was five years old, he'd gone so far as to remove her head with an axe, and then set her on fire. Her mom did talk about that day or how she'd survived, but Caroline knew two things. Dying hurt and it wasn't permanent.

"Usually I go by Caroline," she said sweetly, side-stepping his question. "And you're hardly just a wolf."

The night glow of his eyes grew brighter as the light faded around them and he stepped closer, hands clasped behind his back as he continued to study her. "Does that frighten you?"

"No," she said honestly. Fear was an old companion that she knew well. She was annoyed that someone had seen her change, intrigued that he was something new, and wary of the thread of heat that shivered through her with each curve of his pretty mouth.

His smile deepened, and she wondered if it was genuine. "I'm Klaus."

She blinked. Gaze narrowing, she dragged her eyes back down the line of his body, and studied the nuances of his scent. "Klaus of the Sun and Moon curse?"

"So you've heard of me?" He said with a bladed smile. "How delightful."

Caroline shrugged, pushing back a strand of hair as she tried to digest what he was telling her. Her instincts had been right, he was dangerous. If her sources were right, Klaus was the boogeyman of the supernatural. But the rumors had said he was a vampire…

She did her best to downplay her curiosity, even if she was certain he'd seen it. "A rumor, here or there. Personally, I'd have thought you'd be taller."

His laughter was low and strangely appealing. He moved towards her, until he was close enough to touch. She narrowed her eyes in warning but he made no move to actually reach for her. Instead, his eyes roamed the midnight feathers that arched behind her.

"A sentiment others have shared, I assure you."

She wondered if they'd seen the power in his lean body before he'd killed them, if he'd smiled with monster's teeth he hadn't shown her. Her skin prickled at the thought and it wasn't an unpleasant sensation. But touching the pretty monster in front of her would be suicidal. "Well, Klaus, are you going to try to kill me? Your reputation isn't known for sharing territory. And this place belongs to me."

Klaus caught a curl that the wind teased across her face, carefully tucked it behind her ear. "Well now, that depends on you.

"How magnanimous," she drawled.

"Even mysteries as lovely as you should watch their tongues," he warned her as his fingers skimmed her ear.

"It'll grow back," she said blithely.

To her surprise, Klaus' gaze sharpened, head tilting with what might been a quick flash of anger. "Will it?"

"You're terms, so we can avoid pissing all over each other's territory," she reminded him as she  
put her hand on his chest, and pushed. He obligingly stepped back, and she gave him a hard smile, before her gaze dipped low. "Particularly since you'd have the advantage."

A snort. "A bit crude."

"You're the wolf."

"Hybrid," he corrected, voice soft and lethal. "And I'm more likely to litter your fields with the bodies of those you care about."

"How passé," Caroline dismissed. "I'll go first then shall I? I've no interest in your politics or your schemes, as long as you leave my mother and I out of them. But if anything happens to my mom, I'll won't just destroy you and your little kingdom, Klaus Mikaelson, I'll erase it. Then I'll erase you."

Veins crawled into his eyes, and when Klaus smiled, she caught the edges of double fangs. It was a terrible sight that shouldn't have twitched the first stirrings of true arousal though her belly. "Is that a threat?"

She shrugged a shoulder, refused to flinch. "More like a promise."

She'd have expected rage, an attempt to kill her on the spot. Instead he looked amused, almost indulgent as she defied him. "Very few people live through such a statement, love."

"How boring for you."

His hand snaked around the nape of her neck, eyes burning as he pulled her into his space. The brush of his tongue against the bloody skin of her chin was unexpected, as was the low hum of approval as he caught her lip between his teeth in a gentle tug that did nothing to ease the growing ache between her thighs. Her wings flared out as her mouth opened against his, and he slicked his tongue along hers for a single taste before pulling back.

"I too, will broke no interference with my family, pretty Caroline. Nor will I allow you to work against me. But you'll find I can be an excellent ally."

She laughed against his mouth, snapped her teeth near his smile before she stepped out of his hold. "I'd have to trust you for that."

"So you will."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, and stretched her back in preparation for flight. "So a truce, then?"

His smile shifted to something wicked, eyes hot. "For now."

She dimpled at him. "Then get off my property."

His laughter followed her into the sky.


End file.
